Running head: DARK TEMPTATION
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Dark Temptation
Chris Shull
Texas A&M Corpus Christi
Running Head: DARK TEMPTATION
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Chris Shull
Sep 20, 2013
Mrs. Dziadek
Composition
Dark Temptation
The AXE brand started in France where it was launched in 1983; the products were
introduced to the U.S. in 2002 (Unileverusa). The products have been successful in the global
deodorant and male grooming market. The product has been marketed towards a younger male
demographic. For as long as AXE has been around their commercials have always been using a
very sexual curve appeal, they use women to display the product in the hopes of men wanting to
buy the product. AXE gives guys confidence when it comes to getting the girl, it has a scent that
turns nice women in to naughty women that they just can’t resist, and that’s what every male
dreams of. AXE’s Dark Temptation commercial uses beautiful women to display their product,
yet at the same time they cleverly use borderline sexual endues and metaphors to sell their
products; this is advertisement genius because it lures the audience into believing purchasing
their product will make them sexy and desirable.
In 2008 Axe released its new body spray labeled Dark Temptation, their slogan for this
new product is to make you “ as irresistible as chocolate.” The commercial starts off with a
young white male in his late teens early twenties standing in a white bathroom looking in a
mirror with can of Axe in his hand. He then sprays himself with the body spray and places the
dark brown Axe can down. It seems to stand out compared to everything else in the bathroom
and you can see in big letters Axe across then can. After the silence, the beat picks up and the
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view returns to the mirror were you find a chocolate covered man staring in the mirror. The
scene then changes to the chocolate covered man walking around down town with a big smile on
his face. As he is walking women which are white females, are then attracted to him and by his
chocolate appearance women are licking him, biting him, chasing him, etc. It then ends with
Axes Dark Temptation slogan, “as irresistible as chocolate.”
In this situation Axe is clever in their advertisement proposing their new product Dark
Temptation; it has the smell that drives women crazy. Everyone knows that women can’t resist
the smell of chocolate, it’s the way to a women’s heart and it’s delicious (Theaxeeffect). In the
commercial you will see that the main character is a young male who is using axes product the
dark temptation body spray. With Axe dark temptation it has the fragrance that makes you just as
irresistible as chocolate. As shown in the commercial you will find that women can’t resist the
male character. Everywhere he goes women are just attracted to him, they just can’t get enough
of the dark temptation fragrance. As shown in the commercial women just want to get a piece of
his chocolaty goodness. He is every males dream to be a womanizer and just have women falling
head over heels for them. Men can only dream of having mobs of women chasing them crawling
all over them just to get a taste of Dark Temptation.
AXE has great advertising objectives for each product it offers to it consumers. For
example each product has their own theme for a commercial, including Axe body spray. The
body spray is well known to the consumer as “The Axe Affect”. By showing what effects the
deodorant will have on them when applying it. Axes ideal commercials have been targeted
mainly at male consumers between the ages 18-49 showing that they have good hygiene and
attracting the opposite sex. Axe effect commercials usually start by hooking the audience by
showing very attractive women and how they are being affected by the Axe body spray. To
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increases the awareness of the consumers understanding of the brands benefits. The men in these
commercials are showing good hygiene which makes the women want to be around them or even
want to buy the product for their special someone. While Axe is targeting the strong heterosexual
males there is also “some traction from the product-oriented “metrosexual” segment that has
helped build sales. And women by Axe, too- for their boyfriends, significant others, and
husbands” (Advertisingmediaplanprojectaxe). This is what Axe calls media strategy, to get the
consumer in to thinking that if they buy their product it will give them that extra boost that they
need to attract all the beautiful women (Planmarketingaxe).
In the commercial Axe uses a chocolate covered male as the main character walking
around town and enjoying life while having his ear chewed off by mobs of female admires. Hint
that’s where dark temptation comes in to play. In the commercial you see that the chocolate
covered male is being admired by women who are just tempted to take a bite out of the hunk of
man candy. Women just enjoy his presence while he acts himself and stays cool. The music that
you hear in the commercial is called the sweet touch of love and that is exactly what the
chocolate male character has. He is sweet just like chocolate and he has that smooth touch that
the women love. They AXE commercial uses beautiful and attractive women going crazy over
the smell of dark temptation to demonstrate the use of the product and use those actions to
intrigue men in to wanting to buy axes dark temptation body spray.
The message behinds Axes commercial is pretty obvious; all you have to do is simply
spray yourself with some axe body spray and the women will adore you. We all know that isn’t
true, just by spraying yourself with some body spray isn’t going to drive women crazy and
wanting to admire your good smell. But as for Axe they will do whatever it takes to get the
consumer interested in their product. In order to do so Axe always has something clever up their
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sleeve when it comes to advertisement. They always use young and sexy women to give it that
sexual curve appeal. I mean as for advertisement goes sexy always sells the product. By using
these beautiful women in the commercials it seduces the consumer which is targeted towards
men in to thinking that if they buy Axe products they can attract any girl they want just by
having the smell that attracts them. The viewer’s love these types of commercials they are clever
and funny and they make the consumer think and laugh and this is what grabs their attention.
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References
"AXE®." Unilever USA. N.p., 2013. Web. 29 Sept. 2013. <http://www.unileverusa.com/brandsin-action/detail/AXE-/298199/>.
"AXE Body Spray, Deodorant, Hair, and Shower Gel Products." The Axe Effect. N.p., n.d. Web.
28 Sept. 2013. <http://www.theaxeeffect.com/>.
Anafts. "Plan Marketing AXE." Plan Marketing AXE. N.p., 17 Feb. 2010. Web. 30 Sept. 2013.
<http://www.slideshare.net/anafts/plan-marketing-axe>.
Fadrique, Alvaro C. "Advertising Media Plan Project "Axe"" Advertising Media Plan Project
"Axe" N.p., 29 Nov. 2012. Web. 26 Sept. 2013.
<http://www.slideshare.net/casadofadrique/advertising-media-plan-project-axe>.